Innocent Until Proven Guilty
by Pineapple Whimsy
Summary: AU! Arthur is an undercover cop in jail to investigate a possible murderer named Alfred. He is at first totally convinced of his guilt, but as he gets to know the American, he begins to understand why people are "innocent until proven guilty."


**Hello, hello, all!  
>Ahaha, Merry Christmas~ (even though this has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. Nothing.)<br>****-written for Harmony- (Yes, I'm your Secret Santa!)**

**Italicized things are supposed to be in the past.  
>Rating will go up eventually.<br>****Please enjoy!**

**-I don't own APH**

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><p><em>"Are you sure you want to take on this job, Arthur? It's very risky. I completely understand if you want to back out."<em>

_"No, sir, of course I'll do it."_  
><em>Boss had paused for a few moments, appraising his employee. He smirked then, gesturing to the long table expectantly.<em>

Arthur walked alongside a guard, his hands cuffed painfully. The annoyingly orange jumpsuit hung too large on his thin frame.

_He slid his gun over to Boss and bit his lip. He already felt naked without his gun, too exposed. One by one, he handed over each of his weapons-his taser, his pepper spray. Finally, he removed his belt. His midsection felt far too light with out the familiar weight and security of the weapons._

Arthur shuddered; it was unbearably cold in the hallway and the flickering, harsh light made him want to turn around then and run home.****  
><strong>**  
><em>"Do your best, Arthur. You and I both know that this guy deserves life in prison. Make sure to get something good."<em>  
><em>Arthur smiled self-righteously and nodded. Eagerly, he responded, "Of course, sir!"<em>

The guard shot Arthur an apologetic look as they turned down another winding hallway. It was long with a cell at the end. He could hear the quiet muttering of people in their cells.

Finally, they reached the cell at the end of the hallway. It seemed secluded, private. It was darker in this area, and it was more closed off from anywhere else. The hall was wide, leading into the mouth of the steel-barred cage.

Arthur curiously peered in. Where was the American he was looking for?

"Hey!" barked the guard. "You got a new cellmate!"

From the small bed inside the cell, something stirred.

_"Alfred F. Jones, convicted of breaking and entering into a home. However, the same night, the tenant was found 9 miles away from her home, beaten and murdered. Is currently sentenced 2 years in jail," Boss stacked the papers on his desk. "We know it's him. We just need more proof, more time. If you could just get a confession, Arthur..."  
><em>  
><em>"I understand, sir." Arthur smiled and left the room, loosening his tie.<em>

A head popped up from under the covers and peered curiously at Arthur. He didn't so much as glance at the guard.

"Who's he?" the man on the bed inquired. His eyes were still fixed on Arthur, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Like I said, he's your new cellmate. That's all you need to know," the guard glowered at the figure inside. Arthur stared in shock at the man he assumed to be Alfred. His hair looked like it had been laced with gold and sunshine, and even from across the cell, Arthur could see his hypnotic cobalt eyes. His face had a childish tint to it, a mischievous glow. His skin was radiant, and his hair was perfectly tousled.

How was it that someone so innocent looking...?

"Oh," Alfred snorted and twisted his mouth in disgust. He wiped his nose with his orange sleeve and sat up fully on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. "Whatever."

So much for innocent. Feh, this dude wasn't angelic, he was just an asshole . Arthur internally chastised himself for having any doubts.

The guard opened the door to Arthur's new cage and undid his handcuffs. Arthur quietly sighed. The handcuffs had been quite tight. Then, the guard pushed him into the cell roughlyslamming the door behind him.

Arthur could feel Alfred's eyes on him, but he pretended to be terribly interested in the fact that the guard was now walking away as he twirled his keys in one hand and whistled.

"Ne, ne, Mr. Guard-man!" a thick accent came from one of the cells.

The guard rolled his eyes. "What do you want now, Feliciano?"

"Are we going to have pasta for lunch, Mr. Guard-man?" the voice sounded excited, hopeful. Arthur observed a curled hair springing from between the bars.

"Do we ever have pasta for lunch?" the guard stared into the steely cage.

"No, sir, but every day is a brand new day, no?"

"Shut up, Feliciano!" another Italian accent came from across the aisle. "There is no pasta!"

"Aw, but Lovino..." the childish voice that belonged to "Feliciano" piped up once more.

"Ah, the brothers are quarrelling again, it seems," this time, a slight Spanish accent coming from "Lovino's" cell.

"You're all terribly annoying, you know?" a French-tinted voice melodically floated from next to Lovino.

The guard shook his head and walked away. "Freaks, all of you."

"Hey, hey, you! Take that back. I'm so awesome, you guys don't even know what to do!" a somewhat German accent came from the front of the hall.

"Shut up, Gilbert! You are such a loser! Look at you, you're in jail!" Arthur had trouble identifying this accent.

"You're just cranky, because you can't play your beloved piano, you pussy!" the German-"Gilbert," was it?-yelled again. He was awfully noisy.

"Man, did you know that pianos were invented in Korea?"

"Everyone, pipe down! You guys are like, totally, interfering with my sleeeeep!"

"I'm quite hungry, aru. When is lunch?"

"I'm craving vodka more than anything right now, actually."

"You guys..."

Arthur was becoming overwhelmed quickly. Who were all these people? They all seemed to know each other.

"Yo, America! Who's the new guy?" a girl yelled.

Arthur was suddenly aware of a presence next to him.

"Why don't you ask him yourself, Bella?" Alfred scratched his head and stared at Arthur expectantly.

The hall had become silent; everyone was waiting.

"Well?" Arthur assumed it was "Bella" who asked the question, but he couldn't be sure.

"M...My name is...Arthur," he cleared his throat a bit before continuing. "Arthur Kirkland."

Everyone was silent for a few moments.

"He's British. Why is everyone here foreign?"

"Dammit, what's next?"

"Everyone, please be silent! We're being quite disrespectful to Arthur-san!"

Alfred laughed coarsely. "Kiku, you're too nice."****  
><strong>**

"Is he cute?" the girl yelled again.

Arthur's breath hitched in his throat for a moment. Alfred looked him over twice and smiled.

"Yeah, Bella, he's cute! But let's just say he could stand to eat some more! The dude's totally scrawny!" Alfred laughed good-naturedly as Arthur blushed. He did look incredibly wiry in the oversized jumpsuit.

"You are such an ass!" the unidentifiable accent cried.

Alfred laughed again. "Nah, I'm just being honest!" Arthur's lips twitched in annoyance; this guy was pretty rude. And he kind of had stupid face. It would be a pleasure getting this guy life in prison.

The banter between the curiously foreign inmates continued for a few more minutes until the guard came back and yelled at them.

Alfred walked back the bunk bed and kicked his feet up onto the pillows. He grabbed a worn book from the floor and began leafing through it.

Arthur took this opportunity to stare at Alfred. His glasses were a bit too large for his face; they kept sliding down his nose. He had kind features, but they were also stubborn.  
>He noticed for the first time what a coward he was without his gun. He felt so intimidated, so scared of this common villain. Although, he actually wasn't so common. He was a murderer-all Arthur had to do was prove it. He already knew it was true. The DNA and testimonies were absolutely flawless. But they just didn't have enough for a case-it was a lot of circumstantial evidence, and they had obtained some of it without proper warrants. But if Arthur could get a confession, he could get this guy life in prison...<p>

"How long are you gonna stare at me?" Alfred asked him, not looking up from his book. "I don't bite, for God sake's."

Arthur said nothing and nervously shuffled his feet. There was no real way to break the ice or make things more comfortable. What do you say? "Hello there, fellow criminal! I'm here to get you arrested...again!"

"Ah...Alfred, is it?" even if it was uncomfortable, Arthur had a job to do.

"Yeah," he smiled up at Arthur from the bed, finally looking away from his book. "That's my name." Arthur smiled back despite himself.

There was no denying it-this guy was charismatic even if he was a little unbearable. Which was probably how he was able to convince everyone that he was innocent. But Boss was good at seeing through deception. He had seen right through this guy's act.

Arthur inwardly smirked. This would be a piece of cake.

* * *

><p>Arthur moved mechanically in the line letting the prison cafeteria women pile on whatever food they deemed appropriate. He was a bit drained already. It had been a long day, starting off with him getting up at four in the morning to pace around his house nervously.<p>

This was crap.

He should never have agreed to this.

Arthur suddenly noticed that he had passed through the line. He felt dazed and disoriented. He stood randomly beside the serving area, trying to collect his thoughts.  
>Arthur then realized why he was just standing there. He had nowhere to sit.<p>

He saw Alfred go and sit at a long table with several people. Sitting across from him was a man with shoulder length, wavy blonde hair. He had creepy bedroom eyes, and Arthur instantly hated him.

There were also two young boys who looked relatively alike. They had similar shades of brown hair and a single errant curl sprung from both of their heads. One looked as though he was perpetually angry and the other looked completely, utterly naiive. Next to Naive was a big, protective-looking, pissed-looking man with slicked back blonde hair and severe blue eyes. Next to Perpetually Angry was a happy looking guy with Hispanic features. Happy was waving his arms around and grinning while Perpetually Angry yelled. Then there was an albino who was waving a spoon in front of a brown haired guy with glasses. Albino called out to Pissed Blonde, calling him "West."

Arthur shuffled his feet and looked down again. He hadn't planned for things to be so awkward. He felt like a high-schooler again, on the first day, alone, not knowing where to sit. He was supposed to be taking over this operation, but the truth was, he was too shy for something like this.

Arthur considered going to sit with Alfred, but he didn't particularly like the American. Not to mention that it would be a bit bizarre to just go up and sit with them. He wasn't friendly enough with Alfred yet.

He spotted an empty table in an inconspicuous corner of the room and went to sit there. Arthur shovelled the tasteless food down his throat quickly, eager for the time to end so he could figure out how to become friends with Alfred. He already didn't like it there, and he wanted to get home as soon as possible.

It was so much harder to make friends with someone you hated on sight. Arthur chewed his food again hoping to fill himself up.

He glanced at the table that Alfred was sitting at again. They were awfully rowdy, weren't they?

"Tch," Arthur swallowed another huge mound of slop.

He finally finished and dumped the disposable tray into the trashcan and began walking back.****  
><strong>**

He caught the eye of someone, another guy sitting at a table. The man winked at him suggestively and Arthur shuddered. He had heard plenty of stories of men that suddenly became queer when they went to jail, but...this was...was...

Did he think Arthur was like that? Did he give off that kind of vibe? Arthur quickly walked away, seeking the comfort of his own table.

When he got there, he buried his head in his arms, face and ears burning. He finally gathered the courage to look up. He hurriedly glanced back at Alfred's table, and saw him staring at the guy who had just come on to Arthur.

Naive stole his attention again, though, and Alfred quickly forgot whatever it was he was doing.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Everyone began to shuffle back to their respective halls, and Arthur did his best to follow two blonde-headed children, one a boy and the other a girl, that he had seen talking to Alfred.

However, he soon found himself outside. The blonde girl turned to him and nervously grabbed the boy's shirt.

"Vash, Vash," she said in a soft voice.

"What is it, Lili?" he turned to her and followed her gaze. "Ah, you're the new boy, aren't you?"

Arthur nodded silently. "So, uh, this is yard time now, is it?"

Lili nodded and clutched Vash's hand. "Big brother, won't you show him around?"

Vash looked at his sister and back to Arthur. It was obvious that he didn't really want to show him around, but the pleading in his sister's eyes eventually won out.

"Okay," he sighed. "Follow me."

Lili grinned and skipped away. "See you later, Big Brother!" Vash waved to her and looked back to Arthur.

"So. This is the main area. People come here and converse and whatnot. In the grass, people sometimes try to grow things, but it never works. The girls hang out over there in that corner sometimes...but...other than that..." Vash trailed off. "It's pretty self explanatory."

Arthur followed Vash's gaze over to a group of men who walked past Lili and another blonde girl. Vash's fists tightened and he narrowed his eyes. When the group of men passed, he relaxed.

"You seem to care about her," Arthur noted. Vash looked at him and half-smiled.

"Yeah. But it's troublesome sometimes. Got us both in prison, after all." Vash didn't elaborate and instead he kept his eyes on the group of men. Finally, he turned to Arthur.

"Hey, sorry man, let's finish this another time," he looked at Arthur with an unapologetic expression, short blonde bangs tousled from the wind. Arthur nodded.

Vash immediately made a beeline for Lili, who greeted him with a huge grin.

Arthur sighed; he was sort of lonely. Jail was sort of lonely if you didn't know anyone.

He stood with his back against the wall, watching the wind shake the trees. Suddenly, he noticed the group again. They were laughing harshly. Arthur's eyebrow quirked in annoyance. What attention whores. He glared at them for a few moments.

Then, one of them turned in their direction and smirked. Arthur started; it was the same freak who had winked at him during lunch. Arthur crossed his arms in front of his body to look cool, propping one foot against the wall behind him. Whatever. This guy didn't bother him. He was a cop, for Chrissakes. This guy was just a common criminal.

The distance between Arthur and the man was diminishing rapidly, and it made him uncomfortable.

"Hey," a voice to the left of Arthur startled him out of his trance. He turned to see Alfred, a scowl painted on his face.

The man looked from Arthur to Alfred, then back to Arthur. He was clearly irked, but he said nothing. Instead, he continued staring at Arthur.****  
><strong>**

Alfred stood in front of Arthur. His shadow looked intimidating, long and dark. Arthur was surprised. Why was Alfred sticking up for him?They had barely exchanged words. "It's his first day, man. Why don't you give it a rest?"

Alfred's voice was simultaneously hideously persuasive and threatening. Arthur wanted to step out from behind the larger man to show that he could stick up for himself. He had worked for years to be recognized as a symbol of protection, not something to be protected.

The man finally turned on his heel and walked away, shooting Alfred one last resentful look.

"You okay?" Alfred turned to him, and cocked his head questioningly. Arthur nodded, and tried to look grateful.

"Thanks," he smiled. Alfred twisted his mouth into a frown.

"I haven't been very helpful, huh?"

Arthur was hesitant to answer. "Uhm..."

"Sorry," Alfred grinned. "I'll try to do better."

He bent down to Arthur's level and tousled his hair playfully. Arthur yelped and tried to push his hands away, but it didn't discourage the American at all. In fact, it seemed to provoke him.

"What are you doing, Alfred-san?" an Asian boy with neat black hair stood nearby, aghast. Alfred chuckled and continued his molestation of Arthur's hair.

"Quit it, you!" Arthur cried.  
>"Ah, well would you look at that," it was Naive, giggling next to Pissed Blonde. "Does that mean the British guy is one of us, now?"<p>

"What, so some creeper shows up, and all of a sudden, I'm one of you?" Arthur continued to swat Alfred's mechanical hands away.

"What? It's not my fault you didn't sit with us, British dude," Alfred frowned again. "I wasn't gonna force you to hang out with us if you didn't want."

Arthur forced himself not to swear at this idiotic person. What stupid logic...

"Hi, there! I'm Feliciano Vargaaaaas! I like pasta, women, and-"

"Nobody asked," Pissed Blonde glowered at the small boy standing next to him, but for some reason, his expression resembled protective caring or tenderness rather than annoyance.

Arthur noted this is his head. The German(?) and the Italian(?) were intimate friends. The Asian kid smiled.

"But we'll all introduce ourselves properly tonight at dinner. We don't have much time left in yard time," he did a small bow and backed away.

Alfred nodded tensely. The bell rang as though on cue, and everyone shuffled back inside.

Alfred led him to their cell, tousling his hair again before obnoxiously laughing like a madman.

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><p><strong>Oh kayyyy, so a few notes.<strong>

**I KNOW THAT JAILS ARE GENDER SEPARATED, but for the sake of the story I did combine them. Anything is possible in this world, no?  
>Thanks to Hope, for helping me sort out the issues of the story (I apparently have a problem with comma splices)<strong>

**I will not be able to update diligently once a week. Parental units will not cooperate ;_; I'm sorry...**

**Please review~**


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